History of rail transport in Mauritius
Rail transport in Mauritius was 100 years length of between 1864 and 1964.
History
Prehistory
1845 was announced in the press that a corporation have established with the name of Mauritius Railway Company and the aim to build a railway between the cities of Port Louis and Mahebourg. However, for railway construction, it did not come first. 1856 such plans were resumed, but again led to nothing. 1858/59 finally commissioned the British colonial administration, a feasibility study, which voiced support to build on the island of a railway network.
Railway construction
1862 began construction of the Mauritius Government Railway ( MGR). Their routes were built in standard gauge. The first route led from the capital, Port Louis, on the west side of the island along the north coast on the east side. They began operations in 1864 in a first section. The following routes have been established by MGR:
- Port Louis - Terre Rouge - Rivière Sèche - Grande Rivière Sud -Est ( 49.9 km ) Terre Rouge - Montagne Longue (5,6 km )
- Richelieu - Tamarin (20,8 km )
- Rose Hill - Rivière Sèche ( 41.4 km )
- Rose Belle - Soulliac ( 17.2 km )
Further, the MGR operation from 1878 to 1905 an aerial cableway in Soulliac.
In addition, for plantations and sawmills, a number of narrow gauge railways were built in numerous gauges, including: 1000 mm, 950 mm, 946 mm, 940 mm, 930 mm, 925 mm, 920 mm, 914 mm, 838 mm, 813 mm (?), 810 mm, 805 mm, 800 mm, 775 mm, 770 mm, 762 mm, 750 mm and 600 mm. Next there was a monorail for the transportation of wood in the forest of Kanaka.
Operation
At the height of the operation had the MGR on vehicles 52 steam locomotives, including six Garrattlokomotiven by Beyer - Peacock, 200 Reisezugwagenund 750 freight cars. During World War II the passenger from 1939 to 1942 / 43 had been set on some routes, but was then reopened to be set permanently around 1963. Exactly 100 years after the commissioning of the first railway line of the railway in Mauritius in 1964 total abandoned.
Planning
Since 2007, there are considerations to establish a light rail system in the capital.